Bridge, Gatham: Regional films dominate 51st IFFI line-up

The 51st International Film Festival of India (IFFI) has announced the list of Indian Panorama films for the year 2020, with regional language movies reigning the feature section and having a significant presence in the non-feature category.

The nine-day film gala, which takes place in Goa from November 20-28 every year, was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and will now be held from January 16 to January 24. Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday (December 18) unveiled the titles of 20 non-feature and 23 feature films, to be screened during the festival.

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The line-up of the feature category in the Indian Panorama comprises 18 regional language films, including “Bridge” (Assamese), “Avijatrik” (Bengali), “A Dog And His Man” (Chattisgarhi), “Pinki Elli?” (Kannada), “Safe” (Malayalam), “Eigi Kona” (Manipuri), “Prawaas” (Marathi), “Kalira Atita” (Oriya), “Thaen” (Tamil) and “Gatham” (Telugu). “Saand Ki Aankh” (Hindi), directed by Tushar Hiranandani and starring Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar, will be the opening movie for the feature film section at the festival, which will also see the screenings of Vetri Maarans Tamil film “Asuran” and Govind Nihalanis English animation “Up, Up & Up”.

Sanskrit language movie “Namo” is also part of the list of features selected by a jury, headed by filmmaker-writer John Mathew Matthan.

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Nitesh Tiwari’s Hindi feature “Chhichhore”, starring actor Sushant Singh Rajput who died in June this year, has been included as part of three mainstream films, which also consists of “Asuran” and Malayalam movie “Kappela”.

The movies were selected by an internal committee of Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) based on the recommendations of Film Federation of India (FFI) and Producers Guild. The non-feature section includes eight regional names — “Highways Of Life” (Manipuri), “Jhat Aayi Basant” (Pahari/Hindi), “Oru Paathiraa Swapnam Pole” (Malayalam), “Paanchika” (Gujarati), “Radha” (Bengali) and Marathi titles “Still Alive”, “Khisa” and “Pandhara Chivda”.

Ankit Kotharis “Paanchika” will be the opening non-feature film section of Indian Panorama 2020.

Other titles to be showcased under the category are “100 Years Of Chrysotom – A Biographical Film”, “Ahimsa- Gandhi: The Power Of The Powerless”, “Justice Delayed But Delivered”, and “Investing Life”.

Regional titles were also the centre focus of IFFI during its golden jubilee edition in 2019. Various regional films were screened as part of Indian Panorama and over 12 films, made in different languages about 50 years ago, were also showcased during last years gala.

National Award-winning Gujarati movie “Hellaro”, directed by Abhishek Shah, was the opening film of the feature section in 2019. Malayalam film “Uyare” by Manu Ashokan and Lijo Jose Pellisserys “Jallikattu”, India’s international feature film Oscar entry for 2020, were also also part of last year’s line-up along with “Ek Je Chhilo Raja” (Bengali), “Iewduh” (Khasi/Garo) and “OththaSeruppu Size 7” (Tamil).

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